Cousins completed 42 of 58 passes for 509 yards with four touchdowns and one interception in the Falcons' 36-30 overtime win over the Buccaneers on Thursday night.
Cousins was in prolific form right from the onset, capping off the opening possession of the night with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Drake London. The veteran signal-caller would strike again early in the second quarter via a 24-yard scoring toss to Darnell Mooney, and Cousins would connect with the speedster again in the fourth quarter from 12 yards away. However, Cousins' most impactful throw came just 1:15 into overtime, when he hit KhaDarel Hodge on a 45-yard catch and run that served as his fourth touchdown pass of the night and sealed the victory while propelling him to a franchise-record single-game yardage total. Cousins did throw what could have been a back-breaking interception with 1:52 remaining in regulation and the Falcons down three, but Atlanta was able to get the ball back in time to mount a nine-play march that culminated in a game-tying 52-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo. Cousins ultimately facilitated two 100-yard performances by his receivers (London and Mooney) and also showed encouraging chemistry with Kyle Pitts by hitting him on seven occasions for 88 yards. After a relatively pedestrian first four games in coordinator Zac Robinson's offense, Cousins clearly broke through with an all-time performance Thursday, and it remains to be seen how much of the massive momentum will carry over into a Week 6 road matchup against the vulnerable Panthers defense on Sunday, Oct. 13.